COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says his club needs to be as concerned as any other about the issue of illicit drugs.

But the view of his chief executive, Gary Pert, that illegal drug-taking among players is the biggest issue in football is at odds with AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, who yesterday backed the league's illicit drug policy.

"Gary is entitled to his view on that, it's not a view I share," Demetriou said.

"I do share the view that in the community it's one of the most serious issues we face. In the AFL we've got lots and lots of issues we deal with.

"It's not to diminish the importance of the issue, but we deal with an abundance of issues concurrently."

After telling the Herald Sun yesterday it would "be naive to think it didn't happen in the AFL", Pert spoke publicly about fears of"volcanic behaviour" among players on their off-season breaks.

Buckley said there are "a few holes in the system" but he and his players supported the measures the AFL had in place to eradicate illicit drug taking.

Pert said the post-season break was one reason why he felt compelled to address the issue of illegal drugs at last week's conference of AFL club chief executives.

"There's volcanic behaviour and we've had experts and consultants talk to us about that," Pert said.

"There's definitely a concern that's been raised to all club CEOs and the AFL are very aware of this.

"The nature of the disciplines we put in place for the players means ... the off-season (is) deemed to be the highest-risk time.

"Having that sort of knowledge and being aware of it helps the clubs and helps the AFL deal with that."

Demetriou agreed, saying the pressures placed on the players during the season made the off-season break difficult for some to handle.